The Apocalypse
by EpsilonPanda
Summary: If you don't like Self Inserts, turn away, or hey, give it a read. A boy, his best friend, and their girlfriends follow an illusion of Komuro through their school and end up in Japan at the time of the Zombie Apocalypse. With Rei, Komuro, Takagi, Hirano, Saeko, and Miss Shizuka, they have to survive this onslaught and protect anyone they come across.
1. Chapter 1

*Just letting you all know, I still am working on my Final Fantasy IX fanfiction, _Adventures in Gaia. _This is just a quick fanfiction I thought of near the beginning of the year. The new chapter for _Adventures in Gaia_ will be out near the end of the month or around the beginning two weeks of August. I hope you enjoy this and look forward to the next chapter of the FFIX fanfiction.*

Chapter 1: The End

I stood at my locker and stretched. "Finally, spring break!" I exclaimed. I grabbed my bag out of my locker and shoved my books into it.

"Yup," a boy next to me said. "School's slowly coming to an end." I looked at the boy next to me. He stood about a head taller than me and had short brown hair. I heard footsteps echoing down the hall and look the other way. A boy in an all black school uniform sprinted down the halls. His black hair never moved and he had a baseball bat in his hand. It couldn't be who I thought it was.

"Hey, Arthur, look," I told him, pointing at the boy running down the hall.

"Wow," he said. I took off running after the boy. "W-wait for me!" Arthur shouted. He sprinted after me. I slung my backpack over one shoulder and looked behind me. Along with Arthur chasing me, I saw two girls standing there. One was yelling at me and giving me rude hand gestures. I ignored her and continued following the boy. At the end the hall, the boy disappeared, but I didn't stop. I followed him through the wall. Instead of being greeted with pain, I was greeted with silence. I looked around, and then felt someone fall on me. It was Arthur. He stood up, but that was soon followed with a foot stepping on my back. I looked up and saw a girl in a blue jacket and blue jeans. It was Victoria, my girlfriend. Arthur's girlfriend appeared, but didn't step on me. She slapped Arthur, and then hugged him.

"So where are we?" Victoria asked.

"Well," I began, "we did see a person who looked like Takashi Komuro before we arrived here, so we could be in _Highschool of the Dead_."

"Well, let's make sure," Arthur said. We all looked down the next hall and saw blood smeared on floors and walls. Many people walked around at the end of the hall. But there was something odd about them. Blood dripped from the people's bodies and parts of them were missing. They were zombies.

"Well, that proves it, kind of," I said.

"Yup," Arthur replied.

"Won't they see us," Victoria asked. I sighed.

"Haven't you ever watched _Highschool of the Dead?"_ I asked.

"Watch that perverted show?! No!" she exclaimed.

"It's not perverted, it's awesome!" Arthur and I replied.

"It's awesome to you two since it's perverted," she told us.

"Ok, I guess. Anyway, the zombies only react to sound," I told her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yup. Arthur, your shoe."

"Why my shoe?!" he asked. Victoria tripped me and ripped off my shoe. She threw it down the hall and it hit a locker and the noise echoed down the hall. The four zombies that were there gathered around the locker and walked into it constantly.

"Told you," I said. "Now go and get my shoe."

"Suck it up," Victoria said to me. I sighed. I sneaked down the hall and retrieved my shoe that was on the floor by the zombies. I wasn't spotted yet. I ran down the hall and met back up with my friends at the other end of the hallway. I slipped my shoe back on and stood next to Victoria. "So where to?" she asked.

"Well, if we are actually in _Highschool of the Dead_, we would want to head to the faculty room," I said.

"Yeah," Arthur agreed. "We can meet up with Komuro and the others that way."

"Ready?" I asked Victoria and Elise, Arthur's girlfriend.

"Yup," they both replied. We ran down the halls and I guided them to the faculty room. We passed the corpse of Wakisaka Sensei and a couple of other corpses. We ran through the halls, finally reaching a larger part of the hallway. We were stopped by a nail gun pointed at us.

"Look, we aren't bitten," I said, rolling up my sleeves and revealing my neck. The others did the same.

"Okay, you guys are fine," he said. I looked around and saw a girl in a school uniform on the ground. She was sobbing and hugging another girl. The girl crying had bloody clothes and pink hair. It was Saya Takagi. The girl she was hugging was Saeko Busujima. One more girl stood there with blonde hair. It was Rei Miyamoto. The boy who stopped us had black hair, wore glasses and held a nail gun. It was Kohta Hirano. The man who I chased down the halls in my school stood next to Rei. He held a baseball bat in his hand and stared at Takagi. It was Takashi Komuro. I smiled, but it soon faded.

"We're heading to the faculty room, are you guys also heading there?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's right down the hall," Komuro said.

"Well, then," Arthur said. "Let's get going."

"Roger that," Kohta said. I found a closet and entered in it and found a mop handle like Rei's. I broke it off and then in half. I handed one half to Arthur and wielded the other half like a one handed short word.

"Let's do this!" I exclaimed and ran at the zombies blocking out way to the faculty room. The rest followed my lead. I slammed my sword into the zombies' heads and blood covered the floors and walls. I smiled. I felt so free, but why in an apocalypse? To this day, I still have no clue. We soon reached the faculty room and locked the door behind us. We barricaded the door so none of the zombies could get in and soon, we were accompanied by peace and quiet. Takagi walked off toward the bathroom and I stood against a wall. I slid down the wall and took a deep breath. That part was over; now the only thing left was to escape the school. Rei turned on the TV and a news report outside of the school was on. I looked away since I knew what was happening. The room was soon filled with screams that came from the TV. The scene cut to the news desk where the two anchors apologized for the inconvenience.

Takagi walked out of the bathroom, straitening her glasses and sitting down to another blonde woman who I forgot was with us before. The school nurse, Shizuka Marikawa.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, remembering something.

"What?" Takagi asked.

"Marikawa-sensei, don't you have a car?" I asked.

"Yes, I do, but it's a compact car," she said.

"What about the busses in the parking lot?" Saeko asked.

"We'll go to see if our families are safe, starting with the nearest ones," Komuro said.

"Sounds good," we all agreed. Komuro, Hirano, Arthur, and I removed the barricade from the door.

"Ready?" Komuro asked. I saw Victoria take a knife out of her back pocket.

"Yup," she said.

"Move out!" he shouted. As soon as our feet stepped out of the door, we were surrounded by the undead.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Escape

We ran through the halls of the school, striking down the zombies as we passed them. We were almost out of the school. We had reached the stairs and were near the second floor when we saw five people standing on the second floor landing. We ran down, bashing in the heads of all the zombies trying to kill them. Everyone was worth saving during this apocalypse. When the zombies were taken care of, we stood there, in silence, glaring at them. Kohta rolled their sleeves up, checking to see if they were bitten, and they weren't. We walked down the last flight of stairs, stopping at the bottom. We all peeked around the corner and saw that the whole first floor was infested with zombies.

"Well, what do we do now?" Rei asked.

"They can't see, so we have no point in hiding," Takagi said. "They only react to sounds."

"To prove Takagi's theory, one of us needs to go down there," Busujima stated.

"Well," Victoria said, "we can always use Sebastian's shoe." She grabbed my ankle, making me fall to the floor.

"No, that's fine," Takashi said. "I'll go down."

"But, Takashi, I thought everything was a hassle for you," Rei said, reaching for his arm as he walked away.

"It still is," he replied, giving her one last smile as he walked down the stairs. We stood there, waiting for his return, and soon, he did. He had thrown a shoe across the room, distracting the hoard of zombies. "Let's go," he whispered to us, and we followed him out the doors. The last person to exit was someone from the group of people we rescued beforehand. His pitchfork had hit the side of the door, sending a loud metallic noise through the school. All of the zombies on the first floor turned toward us.

"RUN!" Takashi shouted.

"Idiot, we could have made it if you didn't yell!" Takagi said.

"Sounds echo, so it's no use!" Rei yelled, striking down a zombie with her mop handle.

"True," I said, killing a zombie and running toward my next target. Hirano shot at the zombie, nails entering their heads. Takagi and Arthur ran ahead, destroying any zombie in the path toward the busses. We were nearly there when one of the people from before yelled. A zombie was biting into his neck. A girl ran toward him as Takagi tried to stop her.

"I understand her," Marikawa-sensei said. "In a world like this, it's easier to die." Takashi, Arthur, Busujima, and I reached the bus and opened the door for the rest of them.

"Get in!" Takashi yelled. Arthur and I jumped in and sat in the bus, followed by Victoria and Jessie, Arthur's girlfriend. Finally, Takagi, Shizuka-sensei, Busujima, and Takashi, and Rei came in. But Takashi hadn't closed the door.

"Takashi! Close it!" Rei shouted.

"There are still people out there!" Takashi replied.

"We won't get anything out of saving him!"

"Everyone has a right to live!" Takashi told her.

"Listen, Takashi," Arthur said, "but she's right. He's just a burden."

"I don't care. I can't leave a human behind," Takashi replied. The man, who I quickly realized was Shidou, got into the bus with a couple of his students. Everyone sat in silence was Marikawa-sensei drove out of the school. Shidou paced around the bus as zombies hit the windshield and Marikawa-sensei drove down a road overlooking a river. Victoria was sitting next to me, looking into my eyes.

"We're going to live, right?" she asked me.

"Yup, I promise," I said, putting my hand on her cheek. She smiled.

"Well, how do you know that?" Shidou asked.

"I'm just sure," I replied.

"But why?"

"Well, we have the brains, Hirano-san, the muscles, Komuro-san and Busujima-senpai, and the beauty, which is Miyamoto-san, Marikawa-sensei, and Takagi-san," I told him, standing up. "Then there's Arthur, Victoria, Jessie, and me. We have prepared for this and we know what to do to survive. Therefore, we'll live," I said.

"Sure you do," Shidou said. "For one to survive in an environment like this, we need a leader. Now, as I am a teacher, I think I should be the leader of this group. Do we have an agreement?" A moment of silence passed, followed by the students in the back clapping loudly. The rest of us glared at him.

"But do we have to travel with Komuro and the others. I just don't want to be around him!" one of the guys from Shidou's class said.

"And what have I ever done to you?" Komuro asked him.

"I just don't like you, you little-" His words were cut off by him gasping for air. He bucked to the floor and started to cough. Rei stood above him, looking down at him as if she was his superior, which she could easily be.

"See," Shidou said while clapping, "that is why we need a leader. To keep order. Without order, there is violence, and where there is violence, there is murder. And then after the murder, there can be the monsters that now roam the city."

Rei gritted her teeth and looked toward the door near the front. She leaped toward it, opening it and landing outside the bus.

"Rei! Get back in here!" Komuro said.

"No! Not with him still in there!" Rei yelled.

"But we have to stick together!" Komuro shouted back.

"No! If you care about me being with you, either come with me, or get him away!" she replied.

"Fine!" he said, jumping out of the bus. "But you should stay inside, where it's safe!"

"Guys, be careful!" Arthur told them. "There's a bus coming straight for us!" I looked out the window and he was right. It was just like the anime. The bus full of zombies was heading straight for us at least 40 miles per hour. It slammed into a car that was right before us, the bus flipping over. Komuro grabbed Rei and ran into the tunnel we were about to go through. The bus crashed into the walls of the tunnel, the windows shattering and the engine lighting on fire. Busujima stepped out of the bus and walked toward the zombie filled bus.

"Komuro-kun, are you okay?!" Busujima-senpai asked.

"Let's meet up at the Eastern Police Station!" Komuro yelled back.

"What time?"

"Seven! If not today, then tomorrow at the same time!" Busujima got back into the bus and sat back down. The engine made a small explosion as a large group of zombies climbed out and began to burn to death.

"Marikawa-sensei, get us out of here!" Takagi told her.

"O-okay," Marikawa-sensei said. I saw Komuro and Rei run further into the tunnel as the bus exploded. Marikawa-sensei drove down the small, back streets toward a larger bridge in the distance.

"I was thinking that we should hit a bridge and make it other to the next large section of the area," Shizuka-sensei told us.

"That sounds good, since the Eastern Police Station is across this bridge and the next one," Kouta said. As soon as we were on a large road, it was bumper to bumper traffic. "Well, I guess everyone had the same idea," Kouta sighed.

"No duh," Takagi replied. We sat there for a couple of hours and we barely moved. Mostly everyone fell asleep. Arthur fell asleep with his head on the seat in front of him, and Jessie slept sitting straight up. Victoria had her head on my shoulder and was drooling a little bit. She was cutest while sleeping. Large inhales and short puffs of air when she exhaled. I brushed her hair behind her hair and smiled. Takagi, Kouta, Busujima, Shidou and his gang of idiots fell asleep too. Shizuka-sensei and I were the only ones still up. She looked into the review mirror back to me.

"If you're tired, you can go to sleep too," Marikawa-sensei said to me. "We'll wake you when it's morning."

"That okay," I told her. "I'm fine."

"Anyway, how did you know all of our names?" she asked.

"Well, it's a long story," I said.

"I have to time to listen. It helps me stay awake anyway," she said with a laugh. And I told her about us. I told her about how Victoria, Jessie, Arthur, and I were all from a different country and somehow ended up at Fujimi High School. "Hmm," Marikawa-sensei said, scratching her head. "That's completely logical. I've been reading about how people have found basically holes in reality, leading them to different places. Like someone from America found one leading to France, or someone on vacation in Madagascar found one leading to Argentina."

"Really?" I asked. She nodded. "I thought it was just some weird happening that no one else knew of."

"Not at all," she said. "But the part about this being a manga and anime, that part is confusing."

"Yeah, it is," I agreed. "Perhaps the two words collided, interfering with reality and making one where people from my world are here on yours. Kind of like an alternate universe."

"That could be what it is," Marikawa-sensei replied. "So tell me more about how your school was in America." So for about an hour, I talked about how my school was and what happened during each day in school, answering Marikawa-sensei's questions about how Victoria and I met, or how Arthur and I were friends, and how Arthur and Jessie met.

Marikawa-sensei and my chat ended when the moon was high in the sky and the brake lights of cars glowed in the darkness. I stretched and yawned, feeling even more tired than I was after I woke up that day.

"Go ahead and go to sleep," Marikawa-sensei told me.

"Okay," I told her. I laid my head on the window and quickly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Bridge

I felt a tap on my shoulder and a girl's voice say my name. I slowly opened my eyes to find Victoria standing above me. I sat straight up and looked into her eyes. She put her lips to mine and closed her eyes. I did the same. Finally, I heard Arthur say, "Hey, you two love birds!" Victoria and I broke apart and blushed.

"We're beginning to cross the bridge," Busujima said. "And it's sunrise."

"That took longer than expected," I started while stretching.

Today was a new day. And if I was correct, the day we left Shidou, and stayed at Marikawa-sensei's apartment.

"So, anything interesting happen while I was asleep?" I asked.

"Not really," Kohta replied. He signaled for me to come closer. "We've actually thinking about going on a separate way from Shidou," he said. Just like the anime and manga.

"Sounds good to me. I'm already tired of him and his lectures," I said, looking back at Shidou.

"What are you all taking about?" Shidou asked us.

"Well, Shidou-sensei," Tagaki began, "we're not staying with you anymore. Have fun trying to survive!" We all jumped out of the bus and began walking away.

"But I am the leader! We all decided!" Shidou asked back at us.

"Actually, your students decided that, we didn't," Jessie said. "Hope to not see you around!"

"Shizuka-sensei, are you okay with leaving Shidou?" I asked.

"Well, I have a strong feeling that Shidou-sensei is kind of a douche bag," she replied.

"That's true," we all said, and headed down the side of the bridge. I gripped the small piece of mop handle I was using as a sword and imagined being eaten by one of them. My body being ripped apart, limb by limb. I winced at the feeling and pushed aside that thought. We walked closer to the middle of the bridge when I noticed a fence blocking the way to the other side.

"I would suggest we take another bridge," I said. "Even if it is more dangerous."  
"Why?" Marikawa-sensei asked.

"Well, they have a checkpoint up there. If we take a smaller bridge, then we would be able to get to the other side faster, even if we have to kill some zombies."

"True," Busujima said. "I agree on that plan."

"Same here," Arthur and Jessie said at one.

"I guess," Takagi mumbled.

"Good," Victoria said, "let's get going!" We ran back toward the city and toward another bridge.

"Oh, Arthur, Jessie, Victoria, and Sebastian, you can call me Hirano," Kohta said.

"Ok," I replied.

"And call me Saeko," Busujima said.

"Got it," I said.

"But still call me Takagi," Takagi told me.

"Sounds fine," I replied. We stayed silent for the rest of the time we traveled to the bridge, only finding ways to avoid the zombies that were still in the streets. We soon reached the bridge and found ourselves running towards the other side without any idea of what was going to happen. When we reached the middle of the bridge we stopped for a minute. I sat down, my legs burning, and looked around. For a zombie apocalypse, it looked beautiful. I had always dreamed about coming to Japan, and now I was in it. I heard growling and stood up quickly.

"Everyone! Be ready!" I yelled.

"Why should we?" Takagi asked.

"Don't you hear that?" I asked. They all stood there, in silence.

"I hear it. It's Them!" Hirano yelled. He held up his nail gun, looking down the scope. Saeko stood at in a Kendo stance, and Arthur and I steeled ourselves. Zombies climbed up the side of the bridge and surrounded us. I looked back, noticing Takagi and Shizuka-sensei had no weapon out.

"Takagi and Marikawa-sensei, get behind us!" I told them.

"An tell me why we should?" Takagi yelled back at me.

"Just do as he says," Marikawa-sensei said. Takagi listened and the zombies bagan to get closer. Hirano shot the first nail and took down the first zombie. Arthur struck down the second, and I the third. Finally, Saeko took down the fourth and fifth. We continued to kill zombies left and right, surviving at least half the onslaught. I heard a faint sound as I felt the sun be covered by a cloud. The sound got louder, and I thought that it was the noise of a truck. No, it was too small to be a truck. When the sound was close enough that everyone heard it, I could finally understand what that noise was. It was a motorcycle. I remembered the anime and manga and remembered that I must be Komuro and Rei. Just as that thought ended, a motorcycle came flying over one side and skidded to a halt. Komuro threw Hirano a revolver and Hirano smiled. He began to shot at the zombies as Arthur, Saeko, Victoria, and Jessie continued to kill the zombies that were trying to get us.

Soon, the zombies were all depleted from the bridge, and no more came other the sides. Rei jumped off the motorcycle and Marikawa-sensei gave her a hug. I walked over to Victoria who was smiling, wiping some blood off her cheek. She held a small knife in her hand.

"How did you-"

"I always have one around," she said, interrupting my question. I had a small flashback at one day at school. She had tackled me in the hall when some girl had began to try and kiss me. She had thought that I was the one trying to kiss her even though there were tons of witnesses. Victoria glared at me and lifted up the side of her shirt, showing me a knife in her pocket. She put the shirt over it and smiled at me.

"Buy why?"

"If you needed to be disciplined, or if you didn't listen to me," she laughed. "Just kidding. For defense. My parents always sent me to school with one."

"You two," Komuro said, "let's get going!"

"Okay!" I replied, and took Victoria's hand in mine. We ran up to Komuro and the others, and walked with them to the other side of the bridge. We walked through the streets of this part of the city's streets, soon to have the sun setting.

"If we need to," I know of a place near here," Marikawa-sensei told us. "It's an apartment and has a balcony that you can see the city from, and it has showers."

"It would be nice to have a nice shower," Rei said. Hirano and Arthur grinned. Arthur was smacked by Jessie, and Hirano was ignored.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Takagi said. "Let's go." And so, we took off toward Marikawa-sensei's house.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Preparation

We all walked down a couple of more streets and arrived at Marikawa-sensei's apartment. She let us in and locked the door behind her. I looked around and my jaw dropped. To my right was a kitchen, and to the left a spiral staircase. Next to that spiral staircase was the bath, which I knew the girls would be using later on. Marikawa-sensei led Arthur, Komuro, Hirano, and me up the spiral staircase and through the carpeted halls. We we sent into a large bedroom with a king size bed sitting in front of a flat screen television. The wall the headboard of the bed was pushed up against was a mirror, and an end table stood next to each side of the bed. Two lockers stood next to the television, which Hirano immediately wanted to open. Arthur and I sat at the base of the bed as Komuro grabbed the remote to the television and turned it on. A news report came from the bridge that we were traveling on in the morning.

In the background of the news report, there was shouting. No, it was a riot. A police man quietly walked over to the man leading the riot and held a gun up to the guy's forehead, muttering something under his breath. A loud gunshot echoed through the night, and the man dropped dead.

"Holy crap," Komuro said.

"We need to get the heck out of here," Arthur said.

"No kidding," Hirano and I said. After a minute of silence, Hirano stood up, grabbed a crowbar he found and put it in the gap between the locker door. He pushed on it, only bending the door open slightly. Next, Komuro tried the same thing, but with no luck. I stood up, and kicked the crowbar. The door swung open, revealing a large amount of ammo for different types of guns. The ranged from M-37 riot shotgun ammo to arrows for a crossbow. Hirano and Komuro began to open up the next locker as I sat down.

We all heard the girls begin to laugh, giggle, and scream, and Arthur smiled. "You want to go look?" Hirano asked us all. "You know we're supposed to."

"I'm up for it!" Arthur exclaimed. Hirano looked at Komuro.

"Hey, I don't want to die just yet," Komuro said to him.

"How about you, Sebastian?" Hirano asked me.

"Nope, I'm fine," I replied.

"Oh, c'mon!" Arthur said. "You want to, don't you."

"Like Komuro-san said, I don't want to die just yet," I told him.

"Fine," Arthur said, crossing his arms.

"Hey, Sebastian," Komuro said. "It's fine if you just call me Takashi. It seems like we're stuck together, so why not be friendly."

"Okay," I said.

"Well, onto the next locker," Takashi said. Hirano and Takashi forced open the next locker. Hirano chuckled once he saw what was in it. I peeked in it and saw guns standing straight up. The locker had five guns that I couldn't identify even if I tried.

Hirano picked up one of them and he had a evil look on his face. "So what are these guns?" I asked Arthur.

"Well," Arthur began, "Hirano has the Springfield M1A Supermatch. There's an Armalite AR-10," he told me, pointing to a black gun with a scope on it. "There's an Ithaca M37 Riot Shotgun," Arthur pointed out as Takashi held it up. "Finally, this will probably be your favorite. A Barnett Wildcat C5 Crossbow."

"Awesome!" I said. Arthur grabbed the crossbow and the Springfield M1A Supermatch out of the locker. He handed me the crossbow and sat back down. I held it in my hands and stared down at it. A real crossbow. This was awesome. I placed it down and Hirano laid out all the guns.

"Time to fill the magazines," Hirano said. He handed each of us ammo and we began to fill the magazines with them. Hirano was the faster than all of us at it.

"Did you practice with airsoft guns?" Takashi asked.

"Nope," Hirano replied. "I practiced with the real ones. When I was in America, a Blackwater instructor taught me."

"I can't believe it," Takashi said. "The class nerd it a card carrying member of the NRA!"

"Glad we're not enemies," I said. We heard the girls shriek again and laugh.

"C'mon! Let's go peek!" Arthur said.

"No," Takashi and I said. We suddenly saw arms by Takashi's head and Hirano began to freak out. But then, the head of Marikawa-sensei came into view. She was only in a towl and was holding Takashi's head to her chest. Her hand reach slid down his chest slowly. I stood up and walked out the door, knowing what would happen next. Outside the door was Rei.

"Hey," she said. "Is Takashi still there?"

"Yup," I replied. "Is it okay for me to go downstairs?"

"Sure," Rei replied. I walked down the spiral staircase and saw Saeko standing by a stove. "Food will be ready, and so will tomorrows lunch, in a little bit."

"Okay," I said. And then, I was tackled. I found my arms pinned to the cold, tile floor with girl on top of me. I looked into the face of the girl and it was Victoria. "What are you-"

I was cut off by lips on mine. Her hands her on my cheeks and I found my hands on her waist. "Promise me you won't go getting yourself killed."

"I promise," I said.

"And if I die, don't kill yourself," she said.

"I can't promise that," I told her, looking away.

"Why not?"

"As someone once said, 'Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep'," I told her.

"And who was that?" Victoria asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Cortana," I quietly. Victoria burst out laughing. She kissed me again. I heard footsteps on the staircase and Takashi say, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

"Shut up," I joked and we laughed. He looked toward Saeko and stood straight up. He pulled the bottom of his shirt down and began muttering words that didn't even form a sentence. Saeko giggled.

"Takashi!" Rei yelled. "Get up here!"

"You better listen to her," Saeko told him. Victoria kissed me and stood up.

"Where is Jessie?" Victoria asked.

"Oh, she went upstairs," Saeko answered.

"Arthur's there too," I added. Victoria and I looked at each other and darted up the stairs. The door to the room Takashi, Hirano, Arthur, and I were in was open, but a different door was closed. One that was open before. I opened the door, to find Jessie in a tank top and short shorts on top of Arthur, kissing him. I cleared my throat. The both jumped and stood up.

"Umm," Arthur said. Victoria went over to him and slapped him upside the head. "What was that for?!" he yelled. Just then Takashi ran up the stairs and past us.

"I'll be right back. Arthur, you may want to come with me," I said.

"Got it!" he exclaimed. We walked into the other room and out to the balcony.

"How is it out there?" I asked.

"Bad," Hirano said, without taking his eyes off the streets. Takashi handed me the binoculars.

"I can't take anymore," he mumbled. I looked through them and saw zombies walking from the bridge and toward the apartment. I handed the binoculars to Arthur who grinned at the sight of them.

"Think we can take them?" he asked.

"No way," I replied.

"One they get a hold of you, there's no escape," Hirano reminded him. Hirano looked toward and house and his eyes widened. "Hand me those binoculars." Arthur did as he was told. "Just as I thought."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Look for yourself," he said walking inside and grabbing the sniper. I held the binoculars up to my eyes and looked down the house.

"So?" Arthur asked. While Hirano was inside, I told him.

"It's Alice," I said. Arthur ran inside, grabbing one of the guns and came outside. "Let's do this!" he said. Hirano came back out and set up the sniper on the bipod.

"Arthur," he began, "do you think you can help me up here?"

"Yup," Arthur replied, gripping the M1A.

"Sebastian, support Takashi," he told me.

"Roger that!" I said, running down the stairs and meeting up with Takashi. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yup," he said, grinning and giving a thumbs up. We got on the motorcycle he found and took off. I had my makeshift sword to use, but Takashi had his bat and his gun. We took off through the crowds of undead toward Alice. Takashi skidded to a halt and ran the motorcycle into the yard, crashing into the wall. He slid off the bike, but I felt a searing pain in my right left. I looked down and saw it crushed between the wall and the motorcycle. Crap. I moved the bike and walked out from behind it. I stood the best I could do, which wasn't very good. My left got a stabbing pain whenever I moved it, even slightly. I hit the heads off the zombies that were around and sat down, grunting in pain. Takashi took a zombie out and looked down at me.

"Are you okay? You weren't bitten, were you?" he asked.

"Nope," I said. "I wasn't bitten. My leg was just crushed.

"What about you?" he asked the little girl sitting in the corner. I slowly stood up and walked over to the girl.

"What's your name?" I asked her, making it seem as if I didn't know her.

"Alice," she said between sobs. "Alice Maresato."

"Well, Alice," I said, "let's get you out of her."

"Mister, behind you," Alice told me. I turned around seeing a zombie right in front of me. I saw Takashi put the gun to the side of its head and pull the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the night and the zombie dropped down dead.

"Go with him," I told Alice. "He'll take you to nice people."

"Okay," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She grabbed on to Takashi's back as Takashi jumped up on the stone wall.

"Will you be okay?" Takashi asked me.

"Yup," I told him. "Don't you worry!" I gave him a smile and a thumbs up. I sat up and stood in front of the gate.

i held out my arms to the side and took a deep breath. This was it. This was how I died. I had no regrets. Just when I could hear the zombies right next to me, I felt a warm hand grab my wrist. I opened my eyes to see Saeko pulling me up on a Humvee. She pulled as hard as she could and I landed on the roof with a thud, my leg erupting with pain. I let out a scream and rolled in the opening that led to the inside of the Humvee. Takagi, Alice, Victoria, Marikawa-sensei, and Takashi were in the Humvee.

When Victoria heard me fall onto the floor and scream in pain, she rushed over to me. Takashi and her moved me on to a seat where they looked at my crushed knee. Victoria kissed me and Takashi went up onto the roof. Victoria propped my head on her lap and hummed a tune, making me sleepy. I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Estate

I woke up with Victoria above me, smiling. "Get a good sleep?" she asked.

"Yeah," I yawned. "You?"

"Yup," she answered. She climbed on top of me and kissed me. Marikawa-sensei looked at us and sighed.

"Hey, you two. No making babies in this vehicle!" she yelled at us.

"But-"

"No buts!" she said, cutting off Victoria. "We can't afford to have another person in this group."

"We weren't going to," Victoria said, getting off me. "We were just kissing."

"Still!" Marikawa-sensei said.

"Fine," Victoria said. There was a bump and I almost I fell off my seat.

"We hit land!" Marikawa-sensei yelled.

"Okay!" I heard Hirano reply. He jumped down from the top of the Humvee and stood in front of it.

"We're going to change, so don't any of you look!" Takagi yelled.

"We won't," Takashi and Hirano said.

"I guess I won't," Arthur sighed.

"What about you, Sebastian?" Takagi asked.

"I won't look," I replied.

"Okay. We'll be right back," she said. The girls went to the back of the van and began to change. Hirano, Arthur, and Takashi were discussing something in the front of the van. Soon, in less than a minute, the girl came out from the back. My jaw dropped. The girls were in the clothing from the anime but Victoria looked stunning. In a solid red skirt and a green plaid jacket, she looked amazing. She had a pair of heart earrings in and had the left side of her hair in a ponytail.

"Wow," I gasped.

"I know, right?" she replied. I saw Arthur fall over and saw Jessie. She was in skinny jeans and a shirt with a chibi cat on it. Her hair was the same, in one French braid in the back. Everyone besides Hirano and Takashi got back in the van. Hirano and Takashi ran up the slope that was in front of us and waved to Marikawa-sensei. She started the Humvee and drove up the hill, landing next to both of them. They got in and she drove off.

"How's your leg doing?" Hirano asked.

"It's fine, but still hurts," I replied.

"We decided to go to Takagi's home, which is around here. Once we're there, Marikawa-sensei will have it checked out," he said.

"Okay," I said. I propped myself up against the window and looked out it. We drove pasts the streets I knew from the anime. Soon, we would be surrounded by zombies. Before I knew it, Marikawa-sensei took a turn and in front of the van were hundreds of the undead. I braced myself as she drove through the crowd of them. She turned the Humvee sideways as we slid into the chain fence.

"Nothing's working!" Marikawa-sensei yelled.

"Push that gas then hit the brakes slightly," Hirano replied. Marikawa-sensei did as she was told and the Humvee came to a halt. I heard Rei scream and saw her hit the hood of the Humvee and fall on the ground. Takashi jumped off the Humvee and readied the shotgun. He began shooting at the zombies as Hirano instructed him how to. Saeko got out and began to hit the zombies on the head with her wooden katana. Hirano sat on top of the Humvee, sniping the zombies. It seemed that this was the end of the road for us. I sat up, ignoring the pain in my leg. I slowly moved toward the opening in the Humvee and grabbed the crossbow. I loaded in an arrow and pulled the trigger. The arrow sunk into a zombie's head, making it collapse. I stood up, my leg burning. I took the arrow out of the zombie and hit the next with the crossbow. I loaded it up again and shot the next. I noticed Takashi drop his shotgun and grab Rei's gun. He began shooting the undead as she let out screams of pain. Soon he gave up and just stood up. He grabbed the shotgun and began hitting the zombies with it. He met up with Saeko and they began to discuss something in private. They ran toward the stairs and hit the metal banister, distracting the zombies. I made my way back to the Humvee as Takagi helped Rei up.

Even though Takashi and Saeko distracted the zombies, they were still approaching us. The chain fence rattled and a large burst of water was released from a hose. It was Takagi's mother. We weren't going to die. They pushed off the zombies and helped us all over the fence. I was the last person to climb over the fence. I put my legs over the fence and fell down, landing on my leg. I stood up, Victoria supporting me. Takagi's mother led us to a truck and had us sit in the back. The drive started the bus and drove up the last hill to the Takagi Estate. My leg had begun to look worse. It was now black and blue and swollen.

Once the truck had stopped, we got out of the truck and walked into the Takagi mansion. Marikawa, Arthur, and Victoria helped me up the stairs and in a room that Takagi-sama (Takagi's mother) showed me to. I lay on the bed and Marikawa-sensei pulled up my pant leg. Arthur walked out of the room and into his, which was right next to mine. Marikawa-sensei felt around my knee cap as I yelled in pain. When the examination was done, I was drenched in sweat and I couldn't feel my leg anymore. Everyone in the Estate had gathered around my room because of the commotion.

"Well, good news," Marikawa-sensei, "it'll heal."

"Okay and the bad news?" I panted.

"You're leg is broken," she said. "We'll put it in a makeshift splint to make it heal faster."

"Okay," I replied. Marikawa-sensei left the room and came back in a few minutes with a bag full of supplies. She took out to planks of wood and forced my knee straight. Victoria grabbed my hand as I screamed. Marikawa-sensei put athletic tape around my leg, pushing the planks closer together.

"There," she said. "All done."

"Thank god," I panted. It was finally over. Victoria pulled the covers over me and laid next to me. Marikawa-sensei walked outside my door and made the crowd go back to what they were originally doing. In a minute, Alice ran into my room.

"Sebastian!" she exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Yup," I told her. "I'm fine."

"That's good," she said. We both heard Rei scream in pain. "I'm going to go check on her," Alice said.

"Okay," I replied, giving her a smile as she walked out of the room.

Well, the next week or two was bliss. No zombies, no racket, no nothing. The only thing there was is peace and quiet. Marikawa-sensei told me that my knee was healing fast and that I would be back on my feet in no time. Victoria read books to me that Takagi-sama told us were a good read. Surprisingly, Victoria could read Japanese fluently and the books were a good read. But nothing can last forever.

It was the day that I began to use crutches. Takagi called Victoria, Jessie, Arthur, Takashi, Hirano, Marikawa-sensei, and me to Rei's room.

"Sure, let's all just assemble here," Rei muttered.

"There's not much we can do with the fact that you can't move," Marikawa-sensei said.

"When our little group of companions heads out the next time, I don't think I should accompany you all," Takagi said.

"What?!" we all exclaimed.

"Split up?" Takashi asked. "But, why?"

"Look outside!" Takagi yelled. "It's a whole other world out there now." Victoria, Jessie, Arthur, Kohta, Takashi, Saeko, Marikawa-sensei, and I walked outside onto the balcony. We each looked through the binoculars at the zombies flooding the streets outside the estate. 'My gods," Arthur said.

"But your parents have a plan!" Takashi told her.

"Oh, yeah," Takagi began, "my parents have a plan. They're the best ever! My mother and father! They're so calm! They had given up on me as soon as this outbreak started! They didn't even have faith in me!" She shouted.

"This has gone too far," Takashi said. He grabbed the collar of Takagi's shirt. "Listen here Saya! You're parents are worried about you and care for you! They are doing their best to protect you from Them! We don't stand a chance if we split up!" Takashi yelled.

Takagi began smiling. "You called me by my first name," she said. "You're right, I'll stay with you guys." There was the faint noise of rumbling and we all turned toward the gate. A truck surrounded by multiple cars appeared from over the hill.

"Is that-" Hirano began.

"Yes. My father," Takagi said. A forklift holding a cage showed up in front of the large man when we exited his truck. He was wearing a black suit and held a katana in one hand. He stood on the fountain and unsheathed his sword. He began to yell and the cage opened. A zombie leaped out of the cage and the man beheaded him. Takagi's father was one of those men who you knew was strict, or you know, evil in a subtle way. The head of the zombie rolled into the water, and the water turned red with blood.

"Katanas are ineffective," Hirano muttered.

"What do you mean?" Saeko asked.

"After cutting through bones, it grows weak. You get blood and grease on it!"

"That just like cooking," Saeko said. "The blade is as strong as the warrior's mind."

"You don't understand!" Hirano shouted.

"Hirano-" Takashi began.

"You don't even know how to fire a gun properly!" Hirano yelled and stormed out. We stood in silence when Saeko said something to Takashi and walked off. We all walked inside and headed to our rooms. When I was in my room, about to lay down, Alice came running down the halls.

"What's a matter?" Victoria asked her.

"It's Hirano," Alice replied. "He's in trouble!" I followed Alice and Victoria out to the courtyard where we found everyone else behind Hirano, who was kneeling on the ground in front of Takagi's father. A

"Saya," Takagi's father said.

"Listen daddy," she said. "This man has protected me!"

"It is true," the others agreed.

"He has more pride and protected all of us during this time!" she told her father.

"Is this true, Mister Kohta Hirano?" Takagi's father said.

"Y-yes sir," he replied.

"Very well, then," Takagi's father said. "If Saya has faith in you, I shall not punish you." We all bowed and he walked away. I looked up into the sky and saw the sun begin to set. Was this the night we were going to have to escape. I thought it was going to be the next day. Who knows? Life is unpredictable. I walked back in and lay down. Where were we going to go? The only relatives that I know of that lived in Japan were Jessie's and Victoria's. But, I doubt that in this world, they exist.

Victoria climbed into bed and lay next to me. "What are we going to do?" Victoria asked me.

"Well, in the manga, the group goes to a mall, stays there for I think a week or two, heads to the police station and finds Rei's mother. Then they head to the school that Takashi's mother works at," I told her.

"Okay," she replied.

"Do you know where your relatives live?" I asked.

"Yup."

"I'm thinking we go to the mall, stay for about a week, head to your relatives' house, then if we have to head to Jessie's and then meet up with Takashi and the group afterwards. This will give us the chance to restock on supply and hopefully have a greater success at surviving," I told her.

"Sounds good," she said. She held onto my arm and kissed my cheek. "Good night," she whispered.

"'Night," I said to her. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Escape

I woke up to Victoria still lying next to me. She saw my eyes open and kiss me. I chuckled.

"What?" she asked.

"Do you realize that our first kiss was during an apocalypse back at Marikawa-sensei's friend's apartment?" I said to her.

"It was," she replied. I sat up in the bed and sighed. Today was the day. The zombies would invade and our group would be forced to retreat. Of course, that was a chance that it might not happen. In this world, nothing is predictable. I stood up and grabbed my crutches and looked out the window. Unfortunately, I might slow down the group since my leg was still broken. I walked outside with Victoria where everyone was standing.

"Good morning!" they all said.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Around noon," Saeko replied. It was regular for me to sleep in until noon, but for Victoria? She was an early riser.

"Thanks," I said. "So what's happening?"

"Well, the guards said that there was a bus near the barricade, and they insist on coming up here," Saya said. I went outside and looked through the gate. There was a bus with a man on the outside of it. I squinted and could make out the faint figure of Shidou. I cursed under my breath. It was going to happen today. I walked back into the mansion and told everyone who it was. They all walked outside and looked at the man.

"Yup, sure looks like him," they all agreed. With an exception to Shidou and his group, the rest of the day was pretty normal. I read manga, Saeko taught Victoria and Jesse Japanese, and Arthur watched some anime. It was all normal, until around seven o' clock. There was some commotion at the front door and I heard Rei's door open and close. She was dressed in her plaid skirt and shirt and had her gun strapped around her. She ran toward the front door and we all came out of our rooms. We followed Rei down the stairs and looked out the door, only to see the bayonet of her gun pointed directly as Shidou's face. He was lecturing her about something and then Rei backed off. She glared and muttered something directed at him and walked back inside. Shidou walked out the gate and to his bus. Takashi went upstairs and the rest of us went outside. We stood outside, looking at the sun moving in the sky. In a couple of hours, night would be upon us. Takashi walked out and stood next to Saeko.

"OH!" Marikawa-sensei exclaimed. "Komuro-kun, can I use your phone?"

"Sure, sensei," Takashi said, tossing her his phone. She began muttering and slowly hitting the numbers. Soon, she held the phone to her ear and said, "Hello?" Someone on the other side said something and Marikawa-sensei smiled. "Rika!" she exclaimed. Marikawa-sensei began talking to Rika, who I remembered was her friend and owner of the apartment we went to.

"Look!" Saya yelled suddenly. A blue light flew up into the air and exploded.

"Ow!' Marikawa-sensei said. The phone dropped on the ground and Takashi picked it up. The screen was black. The power was out.

"What happened?" Rei asked, running out of the building.

"Look down the scope of your gun. Is the red dot still there?" Saya asked. Rei did as she was told.

"There's nothing," Rei replied.

"Just as I thought," Saya whispered to herself. Saya then began to explain the EMP field that was released by the missile.

"So what does that mean?" Marikawa-sensei asked.

"It means that from now on, no electronics can work. No lights, no phones. Nothing," she said. A man came running through the gate.

"They're coming! Close the gate!" he yelled. Saya's father ordered his men to close the gate. One pulled a remote out his pocket and pointed it at the gate.

"A great time for this not to work," the man muttered. He put it back in and signaled for two men to manually close the gate. Well, here it was. The last stand. I pulled my pants leg down over my make-shift splint and turned to Hirano.

"Do we still have the crossbow?" I asked him.

"Yup," he said. Hirano ran inside and came back out within a matter of seconds. He tossed me the cross bow and the arrows for it. Arthur, Rei, and Hirano used the other guns while Victoria, Takashi, and Saeko used their bat, knife, and sword. Jessie stood there with the other people that did not have weapons.

"Jessie, use this!" Saeko said, throwing a katana toward Jessie. Jessie caught it and rushed out into the fight. The sun had set, and the guards had lit candles, providing light. Takagi-sama and Takagi's father had begun to shoot and slice at the zombies. I felt as if it was really our last stand. After a couple of minutes of fighting, me shooting then retrieving the crossbow arrows, I relaxed. I held the crossbow to my side and sighed. The zombies kept on coming. If that mechanic didn't fix the Humvee soon enough like in anime, we would be dead.

"Well, this is it," I said to myself. "Game over. No extra lives. No continues." I gripped the crossbow and ran out into the zombie hoard. I starting hitting zombies upside the head with the crossbow and stabbing them with the arrows. The mechanic finally came out of the shed and waved to us. We all made our way over there and he explained that he had managed to fix the Humvee to work using spare parts. We piled into the Humvee and took off, and with one last glimpse of Takagi's mother and father, their servants, and the mechanic, we drove down the hill. We passed Shidou's crashed bus and found our way to the highway. Unfortunately, the Humvee was heavily damaged on our commute to this point, with a door being taken off along with some dents in the hood. When we merged onto the deserted highway, the Humvee began to smoke. We all walked out of the Humvee and toward the city once again. With one look back at the Takagi estate, we headed to Taiei Shopping Town.

* * *

I sat against a wall, holding a glass of warm coffee in my hands. We arrived here about half an hour ago and had found this place called "Starlarks Coffee". Everyone from the manga was still here, the gang, Asami the police officer, and the elderly couple. The guns were hidden from everyone and the backpacks that we had full of supplies from Rika's house were sitting against a wall in a pile. The sun shone down through the skylight in the middle of the mall. A while back, we had all gotten new clothes. Arthur was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull in the middle that was on fire. He wore slacks and blue and black shoes. Jessie wore a skirt and tank top, with tennis shoes. Victoria wore gyms short with and black combat boots. I had found a black and red shirt, some black and grey plaid sorts, and some red and black tennis shoes.

I sipped my coffee and looked around. Arthur was sitting next to me, drinking his coffee, making funny faces at Jessie. Jessie was sitting at the table with Victoria, Rei, and Saeko, laughing and nearly choking on her coffee. Victoria was asleep, lying on the table. Saeko and Rei drank their coffee in silence, while Takashi and Hirano were off somewhere finding supplies. I drank the last of my coffee and Arthur stood up.

"Want to go explore?" he said. We were always adventurous. Back in our world, wherever we were, we would be breaking rules, trying to find something suspicious. For instance, a year ago when we were in 10th grade, we explored some woods trying to find traces of Big Foot or another mythical creature. Unfortunately we ended up getting lost and having to call our parents to find us and pick us up.

"Sure," I said without hesitation. We walked along the top floor of the mall in silence, looking at all the empty shops. "Is it just me, or does this kind of feel like Dead Rising?" I asked.

"Now that you say it, it does seem like Dead Rising, but with fewer zombies," he replied. We walked down the escalator to the first floor. I looked inside the shops and found one that had a bunch of guitars and drums in it. "Man, I miss music," Arthur said, running inside the shop. I followed. Ever since we had been here, I hadn't been able to find any music, and I left my mp3 player back in our world. I grabbed a guitar off the rack and held it in my arms. I had been taught to play some instruments back home, but I rarely played the guitar. I put the strap over my shoulder and strummed. Even if it wasn't hooked up to an amp, it sounded fine. Arthur sat down at a drum set and grabbed the drum sticks. He looked down at them and smiled.

"You know, we could do with some music right now," I told him. I played a couple of notes and he looked at me confused. I sang the first line of Kishida Kyōdan & The Akeboshi Rocket's "Highschool of the Dead" and soon, Arthur chuckled and joined in. Takashi and Hirano had been walking by and must have heard us since they stepped into the shop. Hirano ran up the escalator and then came back down with everyone following him. We ended that song and set everything back.

"That was nice," Marikawa-sensei said clapping.

"Do another one," Jessie and Victoria told us. Victoria found Japanese music fascinating, so there was no harm in it. Arthur sat back down behind the drum set and I grabbed the guitar back off the shelf.

"Which song?" I asked him. He made a funny face, making his fingers look like fangs. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was an anime, but an anime with vampires. The only one we both watched was Shiki. Arthur held up two fingers, meaning opening two. We began to play "Calendula Requiem", and when it was done, were greeted with applause. We decided to play one more song. Arthur shrugged at me and I turned toward him. I made some sign language and he grinned. We began to play a song and Victoria laughed.

"Of course," I heard her chuckle. I knew she would know it. It had been recently dubbed back at home, and I had her watch it. It was "Crossing Field" from LiSA, the opening for Sword Art Online. We put everything back where it was and walked out. Everyone went their own separate was and Hirano went up to the roof to map out the plan. On our way over to the mall, I had told Jessie and Arthur about the plan to go out on our own for a while. Arthur and I followed Hirano to tell him the plan and show him where we were going.

When we made it up there, Hirano was looking through the binoculars. He turned around when he heard us open the door. "Nice little concert," he told us.

"Thanks," we both replied.

"So what are you two doing up here?" he asked.

"Well," I began. "Victoria, Jessie, Arthur, and I planned on heading out on our own probably around noon tomorrow."

"Really?" Hirano replied, dropping his binoculars.

"Well, Jessie and Victoria have some family that lived in Japan," Arthur told him.

"Okay, so what's your plan?" Hirano asked. I stood next to him.

"First we planned on heading down the road that way and crossing the bridge," I told him while pointing to the bridge to our right. "Then we were going to stay at Victoria's relatives' house for about two or three days, maybe restock if the place hasn't been raided already. Finally, we were going to head over to Jessie's relatives' house which is a block or two from Victoria's."

"Okay," Hirano said while nodding. "We'll meet up around that point," he said while pointing to a large building in the distance.

"Sounds good," I told him. "When should we meet up?"

"In a week and a half," he said. "We'll be going to the East Police Station and then to find Takashi and Rei's families."

"Okay. We'll be there!" Arthur exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. Hirano turned around.

"Someone's coming!" he said. Just then, Asami burst through the door. "Asami! What is it?"

"It's the elderly woman. Something is wrong with her," Asami told us. We all followed Asami through the door and down to where the elderly woman was laying. Marikawa-sensei had already begun caring for her and trying to find out what to do. After a minute or two or waiting, Marikawa-sensei walked toward us.

"She needs a blood transfusion," she said. Some talk about blood transfusion and plasma started, which I didn't really understand and Takashi decided that Hirano, Asami, Hiro Tamaru, and himself would go to a clinic to get some plasma.

"We'll head out with you," Arthur said.

"No, stay here," Takashi said.

"We're leaving anyway. You're heading toward our destination. We'll be out of your hair in no time," I said. Hirano turned to Takashi and told him and the group everything.

"Okay, you guys can come," Takashi told us.

"Great," Victoria said. We got all our stuff together and ready to head out. I strapped the two katanas I found upside down against my back. Arthur strapped his broadsword to his back just like Link from _The Legend of Zelda_. Victoria had her knife and Jessie had the katana Saeko gave to her.

"Oh, Sebastian," Hirano began, "Take this." He handed me the crossbow and the remaining arrows we had. "You did so well with it at the Takagi Estate; I thought you should keep it."

"Sounds fine. Thanks, Hirano," I replied. I strapped the crossbow under my belt and we were ready to go.

"Let's go!' Takashi said, opening the door of the mall and locking it behind him. The sun was bright outside. Brighter than the sunlight that came through the skylight in the mall. We ran toward the edge of the parking lot, killing any zombies that we came across. We easily reached the edge of the parking lot and we stood there for a while.

"Well," I said, "I guess this is it."

"Yup," Takashi said.

"We'll meet up later though," Hirano reminded us.

"Yeah," Arthur replied. "Well, see you around."

"Tell everyone 'bye' for us," Victoria said.

"Oh, and make sure to survive. All of you!" Jessie yelled.

"No problem!" Hirano and Takashi replied. We waved one last time, perhaps for the last time, to Takashi and Hirano.

From this point on, we're on our own. We are kids, and the world is our playground.


	7. Chapter 7

*Update for those who also read my Final Fantasy IX FanFiction. For the time being, I'm kind of at a road block with my writing on that FanFiction. In the meantime, while I get the latest chapter of it written, I'll be working on other FanFictions. Probably all of them will be self-inserts, like these two are. Anyway, I hope you'll look forward to those, and please, give me any suggestions on topics you would like me to write about in the future. Thank you, all!*

Chapter 7: The Man From The Ocean

We ran through the streets toward Victoria's house. The rain poured down on our heads and our footsteps made loud noises from the puddles lying on the ground. I smiled. This brought back memories of my child hood, me running through the streets of my neighborhood earlier in the morning to make it to school.

So far, there were none of Them. We rounded one of the last corners before the house and stopped in our tracks. The street was filled with zombies. I took out my swords and stood at the ready. Arthur wielded his and Jasmine drew her katana. The four of us ran at the zombies, slicing them down in our path. We continued down one or two side streets until we reached another hoard. We began to take care of the zombies until we realized that we were surrounded. We continued fighting, trying without success to fend Them off. I was the first to drop my weapons.

"What are you doing?!" Arthur yelled.

"Think about it. Endless waves of the undead. It's useless right now," I replied. He stopped swinging and sheathed his sword.

"Soon, there'll be hell hounds and crawlers," he said. I face palmed.

"But we can't die without trying to survive! Let's go out with a bang!" Victoria yelled.

"She's right!" Jessie said, pulling a katana out of a zombie.

"True-" I began, but was cut off. The zombie in front of me dropped dead. I looked up and saw a man jumping from the top window of a house. He landed in front of me and began to shot the rest of the zombies that were a great danger to us.

"Are you all right?" the man asked.

"Yeah," we all replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw between 10 and 20 zombies round the corner at the end of the streets.

"Do you have a place to go?" the man asked us, landing another head shot on a zombie.

"Yeah," Victoria told him. She led us to her relatives' house. We opened the door and closed it behind us.

"Here, take these," the man said to us. He handed all of us a small pistol and a flashlight. I looked down at the gun he handed us. It was completely gray and the barrel had an anchor on it with SIG SAUER P226.

"Awesome, a P226," Arthur said.

"And a suppressor," the man said. The house was nearly pitch black with only our flashlights illuminating the floor and walls. Arthur and I went on our own, searching every nook and cranny for a trace of zombies. We had all the first floor searched, with no findings. We met back up with the man near the stairs.

"I'll go upstairs," I said, and drew a katana. I held it backwards, and held my hands in a cross, the flashlight above my hand with the katana. I slowly stepped up the stairs, the flashlight shining on every corner of the hallways and rooms. I took a deep breath and entered a room. The first thing I noticed when I entered the room was the blood stains on the walls. I stepped back and shined my flashlight on the floor. There was a trail of blood leading to the other side of the room. I stood there for a second or two in shock. I stepped into the room, doing a complete 360, the flashlight shining around the room. Well, no trace of a zombie. As soon as I ended that thought, something grabbed me from behind. I grunted and tried forcing myself away from it. That didn't work. I then realized what to do. I jabbed my sword into its stomach and pulled it out sideways. Blood splattered on the floor. I dropped my sword and raised the gun and pointed it behind me. I readied myself and pulled the trigger. I heard light shot and felt the tension of the zombie loosen. I sighed when I heard the body hit the ground. I picked up my sword, my heart still racing, and slowly walked down the stairs.

"Well, the second floor is clear," I said.

"Any trouble?" Victoria asked.

"Oh, nothing important," I told her. "Just a zombie."

"Are you okay?" Victoria asked me, hugging me.

"Yeah, I'm good," I said.

"Did you get bit?" the man asked.

"No," I said. "Unscathed."

"Good," he said. "We better set up camp. We all walked up the stairs and into the room. We moved the body and set up some light sources. We had the flashlights on stands and candles lit in the corners. The candles and flashlights provided enough light to see everything in the room.

"So, who are you?" Arthur asked the man. "But more importantly, where did you get the awesome guns?!"

"Well, my name is Leroy Samuel. I am an officer in the US Navy," the man replied.

"So that explains the guns," Arthur said. "Well, let's get started setting up."

"We all took off our backpacks, set them up against the wall, piled the food we could find against the opposite walls, and hid the guns under the floor boards in case of intruders. We cleaned the blood from the floor and set up couple of sheets making makeshift beds. We opened the curtains and saw the amount of zombies outside reduce outside of the buildings.

I looked up at the gray sky. Well, we were here to stay, for a while, anyway. I stepped back from the window, still watching the sky grow darker.

"Anyone have a plan of operations?" Leroy asked.

"Well, we all were going to stay for a week for two and then head out for somewhere else," Jessie said.

"Okay, good," the man said. "We can't stay in one place for long." Arthur yawned.

"Well, good night," he said falling back on one of the makeshift beds.

"But sweetie," Jessie said, laying right not to him and holding him. I looked away, and lay down on my bed. Victoria lay next to me. Leroy blew out all but one candle and lay down.

"So, what is _really_ your plan?" Victoria asked.

"Well, I told you everything I thought of, but the in-depth one?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, I was going to try and find more equipment in the neighboring houses, then after a week of trying, head off to Jessie's family's house. There we'll do the same thing and then, meet up with Hirano and the rest of the group. Probably Rei and Takashi's mothers and perhaps Takashi's father too," I told her.

"Are you sure it'll work?" she asked.

"Well, I can't be too sure of anything right now, but we'll survive, and I have a feeling that Takashi and the group will too," I told her.

"Okay," she said. I felt her exhale lightly and then heard her snore a tiny bit. I chuckled and closed my eyes.

I opened the door to the house and stepped in. "Sebastian! You're home!" Victoria exclaimed. She came to hug me but she gasped. She saw my shoulder all bloody. "You're hurt!" she yelled.

"Yes, but I'm fine," I said.

"We have to get the bullet out!" she yelled. Behind me, Leroy and Arthur walked through the door.

"That's what I told him, but he said he was fine," Leroy said.

"Well, let's get it out! Do you know how to take a bullet out, Leroy?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, I do," he said. "First, Sebastian lay on the table." I did as he said and he ordered the others what to do. I closed my eyes and exhaled. Well, this day was crap. At least we got more stuff. As Leroy, Arthur, and Victoria began taking the bullet out.

We had begun looting the houses the day after we arrived. We found houses around this area, including those across the street, that weren't looted. Today, though, we were traveling two streets down and going into those houses. Leroy, Arthur, and I were to bring home all we could carry. It was supposed to be simple. Nothing seemed odd in the houses. There weren't any noises. Leroy had scouted out and saw no one in the vicinity. But, as soon as we entered our last house, all hell broke loose. Gun first echoed and bullets clanged off the walls. We had rushed back outside and waited for the gun shots to stop. Zombies began swarming around us, which we knew wasn't going to help. We had gone back inside, closed the door, and began to shoot at them. When I looked up and aimed my crossbow, I counted six thieves. One of my bolts took out one of them, Arthur shot two, and so did Leroy. Only one was left. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye heard a noise. There was a sharp pain in my right shoulder and I grunted. My arm began to bleed, and my heart was racing even faster. I slowly stood up as the guy began to pull his gun's trigger. There was a clicking from his gun. He was out of ammo.

I drew my katana and began to slash at him. I stared down at his limp, bleeding body. Well, that was over. I walked outside and past the one or two zombies that were still there. Leroy and Arthur keep my pace and began to ask if I was okay. I told them I was fine, but I knew I wasn't. The bullet kept burning my arm. I couldn't move it either. I had actually been shot. The rain didn't make it any better. The rain made my shoulder throb, and with each raindrop on my shoulder, my vision grew fuzzier. I was near unconscious when we made it back home, and I felt that nothing in the world could be worse than that, but of course, I was dead wrong.


End file.
